With a mother’s unconditional love come a lot of life lessons—everything from step-by-step instructions on how to cook a meal to constant reminders to clean up.
But it's the invaluable (and sometimes lengthy) lectures about strength, equality and overcoming obstacles that resonate with people.
In honour of Mother’s Day, CTVNews.ca asked a few of Canada’s most prominent female CEOs and leaders about the best advice, lessons and guidance their mothers gave them.
Here’s what they said:
Heather Reisman, founder and CEO of Indigo Books and Music, co-founder of Kobo
My mother was and remains the most incredible role model. Her sayings still ring in my ears. One, never put off for tomorrow what you can do today. Two, If it is worth doing, it is worth doing well. And three, you can attract more bees with honey than with vinegar. Aside from these wonderful words of wisdom – she always did and still does exude true grace no matter what the situation. To this day I am inspired by her.
Rhiannon Rosalind, president, owner and CEO of The Economic Club of Canada
The biggest thing that my grandmother taught me and I believe I still bring this forward today, she basically taught me that it doesn’t matter what education somebody has, it doesn’t matter what somebody’s title is, it doesn’t matter where they went to school or what neighbourhood they live in, the thing that matters the most is people’s characters in their hearts.
I grew up in a household where we didn’t have a whole lot. My mom was a single mom and my grandma helped raise me and I just remember that all the time, I would come home from school and my grandma would have people that she invited to the house. Whether it would be someone that’s walking around the streets to sell something or people that are out front to mow the lawn, she’d be inviting people to come into our home and sit at our table to have tea and talk. She always made sure everyone was involved no matter whom they were and she had a way of bringing everyone in. She always taught me that no matter what you may think of someone, you always have something to learn from people’s experiences.
Rachel Mielke, founder and CEO of Hillberg & Berk
I’ve always known that my mom has been instrumental in me being where I am today.
It wasn’t necessarily the advice she’d given me but that she absolutely instilled the value of family first. My parents were always present at everything that I did. They always put family before anything. They were also entrepreneurs and definitely had to make sacrifices to attend things that I did over things that they needed to do for the company. When I think about the values I have now, my kids definitely come first before everything else in my life. I’m just so thankful for my mum for instilling that in me. It was always clear that family was the number one most important thing growing up.
Laurie M. Clark, president and CEO of the Smarten Up Institute
My mother always told me to separate gender and behavior but act like a man and think like a woman. She said we can do a lot if we stop listening to the noise that we’re surrounded by. She told me to be selfish. Never be afraid to be selfish, put yourself first. And she always said about her kids, “I don’t care if they’re happy, I want them to the best most successful contributing members of society.”
I wish all moms a happy Mother’s Day.
Desiree Bombenon, CEO of SureCall Canada, Desiree Imports and DEZCO Management
The best kind of advice that my mom ever gave me was that I should always think of myself as equal to everybody else out there. I’m a minority and so growing up was always difficult with regards to being a female, being a person of different ethnic background and so, therefore, when I was child, I was often bullied for that kind of thing. I think the best advice my mom gave me was to be strong through these times when I’m younger because she said that as I got older, I’d find that everybody became equal.
At the end of the day, we all end up at the same level, the same equality and nobody has a step up on me and nobody has a step down on me so you know, treat everybody else as an equal and you’ll find that you get what you put out in return.
Caroline Riseboro, president and CEO of Plan International Canada
There was one I think sentimental piece of advice that my mother gave me and I can even remember that we were sitting in the car and I was just talking about the future. I was just about to graduate university and go into the workplace. It was a very challenging time and I remember saying, “but you know I’m scared, I’ve never done this before,” and her words to me were very wise in that she said, “well then do it scared.” For me, that has been a game changer in my life because there’re times where we feel fear. Whenever we do something new, we naturally feel fear and I think women, in particular, get really hard on themselves and that feeling is somehow indicating that they shouldn’t take a step forward or they shouldn’t go for it.
But, what my mother helped me realize is that fear is not the only part and to use courage to move forward in the face of fear. Even though you might feel it, do it anyways. And I think that’s what I’ve done in my career. There’re a number of situations that I go into and I feel fearful or overwhelmed and push through because of these words. Do it anyway, do it afraid.
